<\/p>\n
The power utility said the year-to-date Energy Availability Factor (EAF) reached 67.55%, compared with 60.2% during the same period last year. The improvement represents the highest financial year-to-date performance recorded since October 2020 and reflects sustained operational improvements across the generation fleet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Eskom, demand has been met consistently throughout the current financial year, with sufficient generating capacity available even during winter peak demand periods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The utility said unplanned outages have also declined significantly. Between August 7-13, average unplanned outages fell to 6 653MW from 11 982MW during the corresponding period last year, a reduction of 44.5%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eskom attributed the improvement to better reliability across its coal-fired power stations, with more than 71% of the coal fleet currently operating at EAF levels between 71% and 93%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The utility also reported a sharp decline in diesel usage. Diesel expenditure between April 1 and August 13 stood at $55 million compared with $328 million during the same period last year, representing a reduction of more than 83%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eskom said the lower spending reflects reduced reliance on diesel-powered Open-Cycle Gas Turbines as generating plant performance continues to improve.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the utility has achieved another milestone in its programme to eliminate load reduction.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Eastern Cape province has become the seventh province to achieve load reduction-free status, surpassing Eskom’s October 2026 target.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Approximately 1.2 million customers have now been removed from load reduction schedules, representing 71% of the 1.69 million customers initially targeted under the programme.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As a result, the proportion of Eskom customers affected by load reduction has declined from a peak of 23.5% to about 6.8%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eskom said seven of SA’s nine provinces are now completely free from load reduction. The remaining affected areas are located in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where interventions continue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The utility remains on track to eliminate load reduction nationally by 2027.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Efforts include the rollout of smart meters, expansion of Free Basic Electricity support and measures aimed at reducing illegal connections, electricity theft and infrastructure overloading.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To date, more than 505 000 smart meters have been installed in high-priority areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eskom also confirmed that additional teams have been deployed to parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State province following severe weather that damaged electricity infrastructure. Restoration work is continuing where conditions are safe and access is available.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Eskom said available capacity is expected to remain sufficient to meet demand, maintaining the utility’s forecast of no loadshedding throughout the remainder of the winter period.<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42780,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-42779","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa's (SA) power utility, Eskom, says the country continues to enjoy a stable electricity supply, with the utility reporting its strongest power station performance in six years and more than 455 consecutive days without loadshedding.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa's (SA) power utility, Eskom, says the country continues to enjoy a stable electricity supply, with the utility reporting its strongest power station performance in six years and more than 455 consecutive days without loadshedding.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42781,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42779\/revisions\/42781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=42779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}